Misty Hearts
by thethiefoftheshire
Summary: A Pandora Hearts AU. Bilbo Baggins is the heir to the Baggins family, but he never expected that his life would change on his thirty-third birthday. The Abyss is destroying the world, and only he has the key to destroy it. Note: All characters that are not chains are human.


Today was a glorious day. Ah, yes, today was Bilbo Baggins thirty-third birthday party. Quite the significant age for the Baggins family. After all, the Baggins family was the only family out of the five royal families to have their children come of age at age thirty-three. An odd custom, but the parties had always been lavish, and everyone from all the royals came around. Well..all but the Mirkwoods..they were more of the..outcasts..no one really enjoyed their company, and for good reason, but that reason shall be told later.

While preparations for the party were being made, Bilbo himself was busy in his room, dressing himself up. Yes, today was going to be a perfect day. Today..he would finally be considered a young man instead of a child. After all, he was the only son of Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took, so today was extremely noteworthy. As the only heir to the Baggins family, Bilbo would be held in extremely high esteem. He would be able to join his father on business meetings and in travels.

Today, he was finally grown up.

Adjusting the cuffs of his jacket, he let out a long breath, grinning to himself. "Remember, Bilbo. Be charming. Be eloquent. We don't want to send off a bad impression, now do we?" he muttered, nodding slightly. "Make sure people like you..that's the important bit. Make sure you are well liked." He had been giving himself these little pep talks for days, just to ease his nerves. It was such a big event..and he didn't wish to make a fool of himself.

He glanced over at the clock, blinking. "Ah-! It's time! I can't be late, oh my goodness-" He flailed his arms a bit before running down the stairs and to the entrance of the ball room, panting slightly. How embarrassing. He was almost late to his own party!

Taking a deep breath, he pushed the doors open, blinking at the vast amount of people in the room. That..that was..overwhelming. People from every family was here—minus the Mirkwoods, of course. Durins, Rivendells, Lothloriens..they were all here, and Bilbo suddenly felt very nauseous. "Goodness me..I think a sickness has come over me.." he grumbled before stepping inside, everything immediately falling quiet as everyone turned to look at him.

"Well, there he is! The man of the hour!" came the booming voice of his father, Bungo. Looking up, Bilbo choked slightly as Bungo threw his arm around his shoulders, laughing. "How ironic, Bilbo. You're never late to anything, but you're almost late to your own party! Hilarious, hilarious.." Bilbo just nodded slightly, making a slight face. He was a bit uncomfortable. His father had never been..this friendly to him. It threw him for a loop, honestly.

"..It may be ironic, Bungo, but do give your son some personal space, yes? I'm sure he's overwhelmed." came a deep, soothing voice from behind.

Bilbo whirled around, blinking and letting out a laugh. "Gandalf!" he said happily, wrapping his arms around the tall man in a hug. "How are you? It's been ages since I've last seen you, you know."

"Oh, yes, I know. But Lady Galadriel has been ever the busy one, so I am busy as well." Gandalf responded with a soft laugh. "But, I am here for the biggest event of your life, and that's particularly important. I would never miss this, you know."

"Ah, I know you wouldn't, Gandalf." Bilbo grinned, letting out a soft breath. So far, so good..for now, anyways.

"Now, there you are, Gandalf. I have been looking everywhere for you." Oh, there was Galadriel. Bilbo had been wondering where she was, considering that Gandalf rarely left her side. "And there you are, Master Baggins. Happy Birthday to you." she said with a kind smile, bowing her head.

"Thank you very much, Lady Galadriel." Bilbo replied, letting out a long breath. Yes, tonight would be a good night if everything went as smoothly as this.

"Well, Bilbo, you might want to go mingle with the other guests now." Bungo interrupted, quite rudely pushing his son through the crowd. "Knock them dead, lad!"

"...They won't be the only thing dead by the time this night is over." Bilbo grumbled with a snort as he made his way through the crowd, talking and mingling with many people, and they all seemed to love him. He was charming, witty, and he swore several guests were tempted to pick him up and take him home with them. It went just as smooth as he hoped it would. Thankfully. He wasn't so worried now.

And then..it was time. Time for the ceremony part of the party, which really wouldn't take too long. Bilbo just had to repeat an oath and accept the family ring, and then he would officially be considered of age.

"Attention everyone!" came the voice of Bilbo's father. "Now is the time for the ceremony..Bilbo, if you would come up, please."

Though..little to everyone's knowledge, there were two uninvited guests standing outside, looking into the window, both wearing hoods to cover their faces.

"Now? Is now the right time, then?"

"No..no..we must wait until we see the Ring..and then we go in..patience, Tauriel. The time will come. He will go into the Abyss."

Meanwhile, Bilbo was making his way up to the front of the ballroom, all too aware of the eyes on him. This was nerve-wracking, though it shouldn't have been. It would only take about five minutes to do. It would be fine.

Stepping up onto the small stage that had been stepped up, he knelt down in front of his father, closing his eyes as he placed his hand on top of his head. "Now, Bilbo, if you would say the Oath."

Taking a deep breath, Bilbo effortlessly said the words that he had been practicing for months on end. "I, Bilbo Baggins, swear to uphold the Baggins family traditions and values. I will not betray this family. I will not break the family vows, and I swear upon this Oath until the day I die."

"And, do you swear to protect the family ring with your life?"

"I swear."

"Now rise, Bilbo, and receive this." Standing, Bilbo rolled his shoulders back, eyes locking onto the chain that Bungo now held out, the Ring dangling on the end of it. "Now, here is the ring. Keep it safe, my boy."

He seemed hesitant to place it around Bilbo's neck, but he did, after a few moments, and cheers burst out throughout the room. A long sigh of relief escaped Bilbo's lips, and he grinned, turning the face the crowd.

And then the lights went out.

Confusion rippled through the guests as they all tried to figure out what was going on. "What's happening, why are the lights out?" etc, etc.

"Father, what-?!" But he was interrupted by the sound of glass breaking, screams echoing around the room.

"Mirkwoods, it's the Mirkwoods!" someone cried out, and Bilbo blinked. The Mirkwoods? What were they doing here? Oh goodness, this couldn't be good. Nothing good ever came out of them being there. Bilbo looked around frantically, trying to see in the dark, but it was no good. He couldn't see that well, yet, especially with all of the people there.

People were screaming, and some were cut short by arrows being shot. Bilbo didn't know what to do in all of the chaos. What could he do except hide behind the nearest thing that he could find? And that he did, praying that this would all be over soon. He couldn't believe this, though. His party, ruined by those damn Mirkwoods! Honestly, what could they want?

Peering out from behind his hiding place, he squinted slightly, watching all of the guests trying to file out of there, but the doors had been shut and locked. It was hopeless. "And here I thought tonight was going so smoothly.."

"Oh, poor Baggins boy..did we ruin your party?" came a sardonic voice from behind him. Bilbo squeaked before turning around, his hand absently clutching at the chain around his neck. "Hm..what's this. You've got your nasty little fingers on that Ring, don't you? Well, that won't be for long."

"You're not getting this-!" Bilbo gasped out before scrambling out from behind his hiding spot, blindly pushing through the crowd in an attempt to get away, but someone grabbed the back of his jacket, yanking him back.

"Oh no you don't! We will have that.." came a second voice. A male's voice. "You see..that Ring is very powerful..and it's an awful crime to have it. A crime that's punished by..oh..being thrown into the Abyss!"

The Abyss? But wasn't that place just made up? His grandmother always told him about nasty little children being dragged into it if they did something horribly wrong..but..he had always thought it had been told just to scare him into being good. It couldn't be real..it couldn't..

"Would you look at him, Legolas? He looks absolutely terrified. It's endearing."

"Tauriel, stop that. We have to cast this one before it's too late."

"Right, right, you go ahead, then."

While this conversation was going on, Bilbo was attempting to crawl away, and he got about a few yards away before his leg was grabbed, and he yelped, squirming around in an attempt to get free. But whoever it was had a damn strong grip. "Let go of me, let go-!"

"I don't think so..now..Bilbo Baggins.." came the male's voice again. Legolas, wasn't it? "..You are in possession of the Ring, a heinous crime indeed." At this point, all in the ballroom had fallen silent, as if time itself had frozen. Bilbo couldn't move. Couldn't speak. He could only silently pray that this was a horrible dream. "..As punishment for this crime..you shall be cast into the Abyss. Only if proven guilty.."

How cruel. Of course he was guilty. They were toying with him.

"Tauriel. Come and inspect him for the ring."

"Yes sir, Legolas." The other hooded figure came over, patting him all over his body before slender fingers wrapped around the chain, yanking it off of his neck. "Well, look at what we have here. The Ring, indeed."

"..It has been proven that you have it..you are guilty." Legolas hissed out, placing his hand on top of Bilbo's head, yanking him by the hair. "Your sin is..possession of the One Ring."

He was let go of, but that was no relief. The floor had opened up behind him, and he gasped, eyes widening at the darkness. It looked like things were reaching up to grab him, and before he could back away, he was shoved in, screaming as loud as he could.

And nothing was around him but darkness.


End file.
